1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that uses photocurable ink which includes an ink discharge section that discharges the photocurable ink onto a cloth (printing medium) that is transported, and a light irradiation section that irradiates curing light onto the photocurable ink that has been discharged onto the cloth and a method for producing a printed material.
2. Related Art
Examples of printing apparatuses of the related art that use this kind of photocurable ink include the printer disclosed in JP A-2010-162754. This document discloses a structure which uses ultraviolet-curable ink and includes an ultraviolet irradiation section.
However, printing an image on a printing medium using the ultraviolet-curable ink in JP A-2010-162754 has not been considered at all.
If ultraviolet-curable ink is discharged onto a printing medium, the ink becomes attached to the surface of the printing medium and there is little penetration into the interior of a fiber. That is, there is a tendency for the association of the ink with the fiber to be insufficient. In addition, since there are a great deal of fibers that have fluff on the surface of the printing medium, in a case in which such a fiber is used, there are cases in which a significant amount of the ultraviolet-curable ink becomes attached to the fluff.
If the ink is cured by the irradiation of ultraviolet light in such a state, the ink is cured in a state in which the association of the ink with the fiber is not favorable. In addition, curing is performed in a state in which a great deal of the ink is attached to the fluff. If such a printing medium is commercialized as a product and provided for use as clothing, a packing device or the like, there is concern that a problem arises in which the cured ink tends to peel off as a result of friction or impacts.
In addition, in a case in which the printing medium is a mesh fabric that includes apertures in a lattice shape, problems such as a state in which ink is attached to the edges of the apertures of the mesh fabric and blocking the apertures or the contact area of the ink and the fiber being small can occur from merely discharging ultraviolet-curable ink onto the mesh fabric. If the ink is cured by irradiating ultraviolet light in this state, there is concern that a problem arises in which the apertures of the mesh fabric become blocked and the cured ink tends to peel off from the mesh fabric.